Understanding the City - Ijurr Studies in Urban and Social Change Book by John Eade & Christopher Mele Hardcover

Book Synopsis

This cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary analysis looks ahead to the direction which urban studies is likely to take during the twenty-first century.

From the Back Cover

This pioneering, multi-disciplinary analysis looks ahead to the direction which the study of urban society is likely to take. Leading researchers from sociology, geography, anthropology, and cultural studies examine the research issues that emerged during the 1990s, particularly from political economy and 'cultural turn' perspectives. Their exploration reveals both how urban studies have fragmented, and how a new middle ground for future debate and research has arisen.

The volume brings together theoretical discussion of urban studies with analysis of urban processes at both regional and local levels around the globe. It enables readers to assess the degree to which differing perspectives have produced dynamic diversity as well as areas of mutual interest, creating exciting possibilities for urban studies locally and globally.

Review Quotes

"Many anthologies on the city exist, but only a few contain both cutting-edge theoretical essays and rich empirical studies. The latter focus on cities outside the Western urban canon and will make Understanding the City even more attractive to urban scholars." Professor R. Beauregard, New School University

Understanding the city is an engaging read for those grappling with new theoretical and conceptual questions about how cities function.....the essays in this book provide an excellent foundation for new levels of discourse on urban enviroments and city life." Area

About the Author

John Eade is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Surrey, Roehampton. He undertook research in Calcutta before completing his doctorate on Bangladeshi community politics in London's East End. He directed the Wandsworth local/global study and his previous publications include The Politics of Community (1989), Living the Global City (1997), and Placing London (2000). He is currently directing a research project on Methodists in the global city and collaborating on an ESRC-funded program on links between Britain and Bangladesh.

Christopher Mele is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is the author of Selling the Lower East Side: Culture, Real Estate, and Resistance in New York City (2000). His current research is a study of the influence of historical patterns of race and class upon contemporary urban growth and development along the southeastern coast of the United States.